Soap dispenser



May 12, 1959 R E. STURMAN 2,386,214

SOAP DISPENSER Filed June 6, 195a INVEN TOR. 26 Z 30 P022227- E..STl/RMAA/ hebra, v

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SOAP DISPENSER Robert E. Sturman,lVlinneapolis, Minn.

Application June 6, 1958, Serial No. 740,440

4--Claims. (Cl; 222-193) My invention relates to devices for mixing atreatment material such as soap, detergents orother liquefied ma terialswith a flowing fluid, for example water. For convenience in thisdisclosure I have shown my invention as a soap dispenser and associatedwiththe water supply to a shower head or nozzle of ashower used forbathing.

It is the primary object of my inventionto provide means of a simple,readily installed. and conveniently controllednature whereby aliquidsoap or liquefied detergent may he admixed with the water flowing to ashower head, so that the bather need'not bother with theordinary b'arorcake soap, a thing which often is a nuisance and sometimes dangerouswhen a wetandslickpiece of soap escapes from the hand. Another objectistoprovide a soap dispenseroperative by suction created by the waterflowing through a venturi tube to the shower head, or. tea mixing faucetor the like, and which willsupply a predetermined volume of the soap ata predetermined rate ofadmixture and'will then automatically shut off toclear the water for rinsing purposes, meanwhile automatically rechargingitself'ready for the next use.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosed inthe course of. the following specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig; 1 is an elevation of the upperportion of the pipe supplying water to a shower head or, nozzle, showingthe pipe extending upwardly through a wall of the shower and showingmyinvention as applied for supplying and mixing soap or detergent with thewater.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, taken along the line 2-2in Fig.1 and showing the condition assumedby the parts fol-lowing'theadmixture of ameasured volume of soap or detergent with the waterflowing to the'shower head.

Fig: 3 is'a'viewsimilar to Fig.2 but showing the parts in-the position;assumed after the valve has beenmanually actuated to initiate the.admixture of the soap with the'waten.

Fig, 4 isan'enlargedse'ctionaldetail view illustrating one mannerof'connecting a venturi tubeinto the water supply pipe andshowingth'e;suction connection to the throat of the venturi passage;

Referring now more particularlyand" by reference characters to thedrawing; inFig; 1 A designates a Water supply pipe leading upwardlywithin a wall B for connection as at C'to a shower heador'nozzleD'of.anyconventiona form. In the structureg'li'ere shown theshower. will be located'to the'rightof the wallB and the majority of thecomponents going tomake up'myinvention are shown as applied to andexposed atthis same side of the wall. It will be apparent, howeverthatthese components may be: located at the opposite side of the wall, outof the way ofanyone using the shower, and particularly where closetspace is. available immediately adjacent theshower.

My inventionzcomprisesa container or tank-'10 of any suitableshape orsizeasecured as designated at 11'to the wall. B 1' at a:.convenient:location well below the shower United States Patent 2,886,214 PatentedMay 12,

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head' D and provided. with a filler: opening normally closed by a plug12 through which the container may 'be supplied with a liquid soap ordetergent and water mix ture or any other treatment material which is tobemixed with the water flowing through the pipe A. If :desired the'top13 of this container lll may be provided with an opening (not shown),large enough to accommodate an ordinary cake of soap, if it is desiredto use soap andito mix the same with water in the container.

At'a level above the container 10 the pipe A is provided in any suitableway with a-venturitube or passage 14 through which the water flowingtoward the nozzle-D must pass'andthis passage is of. conventionalconfigura' tion to cause the water to first increaseiinxvelocity as. itenters the tube, resulting ina drop" in pressure at'the throatandv thento restore thewater to its normalvelocity and normal pressure after itleaves theventuri tube... As seen in Fig. 4 this venturi'tube orpassageJ14 is' machined in a T-fitting 15 interposed in pipeAand havinga lateral opening 16 from the throat of the venturi communicating with asuction pipe 17 extending outwardly through the wall B above theaforesaid container 10. Said suction pipe 17', outwardly of the wall'B,is screwed into a.shut'- off valve 18 of conventional formand'leadingfrom this. valve. furtherv outwardly from the Wall is the lateralbranch 19 of an upright tubular valve housing 20. When the valve 13 isopened the suction created. at the throat of the venturi. 14- willcommunicatewith the interior. of? the valve housing 20 and as willbepresently pointed outthe suction thus present in housing 20 will. drawoff a: measured charge of the liquidv soap or, detergent mixture:- fromthe container 10, and mix the same with the water flowing through thepipe A to the shower head D. The: shut-off valve 18 may be adjusted toregulate the rate Off flow into the venturi 14- or toshut it oflentirelyaswill be understood.

An upright chamber 211s formed in the containerlfl? by the provisiontherein of a cylindrical wall 22 closedat its upper end 23- except for atapped opening 24v into: which the lower end of the aforesaidvalvehousing 20: is screwed, as is bestseen in'Figs. 2 and. 3. At'the lower.

end the cylindrical element 22 has. a closure 25, spaced.

some distance above the bottom 26 of the containerv 10 and providedatits center with an opening 27. in whichiisr' positioned: a footvalve-28; having upper and .lower: heads:

29 and 30which arelarger-in-diameter thanopening 27 Thestem portion ofthe foot valve 28,connecting the valve, heads 29--3tl isuslightlysmaller thanzthe opening27, so? that when the upward movement of thisvalve is urnv impeded-the pressure of the soap or liquid detergentjmixature withinthe-container 1h may slightly unseatfthevalve:

and permitthisliquid: mixture to'seep into the. chamber?:

21. A number of radial slits 32 are provided inxthes lower endiof thecylindrical element 22I'to enable the contents of the tank 10 to workinto the opening. 27 and: pass-the foot valve28.

Mountedfor vertical reciprocation withinthe' chambe 21 is. a float 33having a cylindrical. wall 34 slightly smaller in external diameter thanthe diameter of. the

chamber 21 itself,.so that theliquidcontents of the. contaiuer-liilentering. through the opening 27 may work their: way between thecylindricalelementZZ and the wall 34'1 into'the'cham'ber 21' above thefloat. Thisditferenceiin'i diameter is very slight but any'tendency ofthe float .33lto bind is prevented by the fact that the nature ofthe-liquid" content of a, container l0 =causes it to have alubricatingefiect upon the surface of the float and the chamber; The: upper andlower ends of thefioat 33 are closed as-showm and contained within thefloatisa weight 35 which regn lates the buoyancy of the float forapurpose presentlydoj appear.

A control valve, designated generally at 36, is provided in the housing20 and comprises an elongated valve stem 37 slidable upwardly anddownwardly, or axially, with respect to said housing and emerging fromthe upper end thereof through a packing gland 38 of conventional form. Acontrol knob 39 is secured to the upper end of the valve stem 37 and avalve head 40 is fitted to its lower end. Said valve head 40 is taperedin an upward direction to coact with the lower end of the housing 20 inorder to isolate the housing 20 from the chamber 21 in the normalposition of the parts or when the valve stem 37 is in its uppermostposition, as it is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Said valve head 40 has a verylong taper in order not to bind or wedge itself into place when closedand in addition is provided with a downwardly protruding bumperextension 41 for engagement with the upper end of the float 33, as willalso be shortly described.

a Normally the float 33 rests at the bottom of chamber 21 in theposition of Fig. 3 but the valve head 40 is in its upper closed positionof Fig. 2. When the bather then wants to add soap to the water issuingfrom the shower head D the knob 39 is pressed down to open the valveformed by the valve head 40 as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. Assuming thevalve 18 to be open the suction developed in the pipe 17 by the waterpassing the throat of the venturi 14 will draw the liquid soap from thechamber 21 and the rate of this withdrawal may be controlled by properlyadjusting valve 18. As the soap is drawn into the water from the chamber21 the float 33 will gradually rise in the chamber until the float bumpsthe valve extension 41 (Fig. 2) and moves the valve head 40 to itsclosed position again. Thus a measured charge of the soap, or otherliquid detergent or material, will be drawn ofi, i.e., that volume ofthe soap in chamber 21 above the float 33, and at the same time an equalvolume of soap be drawn by suction into the chamber below the float.

Once the float 33 has thus risen and automatically shut off theadmixture of the soap with the shower water the float will begin todescend because it is so weighted and because provision is made for thesoapy material below to work upward around the float and inside the wall22 to recharge the chamber 21 above the float when the latter returns toseat in its normal, lowered position of Fig. 3. As the chamber 21 isbeing recharged the soap from container will flow inward through theslits 32 and then upward past the foot valve 28 which may freely openfor this purpose until the float comes to rest against the upper end 27of this valve again. The atmospheric pressure upon the relatively largebody of the liquid soap in the container will ensure the recharging ofchamber 21 and to provide an air supply from the ambient air the upperend of wall 22 may be somewhat loosely fitted into the top 13 ofcontainer 10 and other suitable means be provided to admit air into theupper part of the container.

In the case of the location of container 10 and associated components onthe opposite side of wall B as previously mentioned then, of course,some suitably simple remote control linkage would be extended throughthe wall to a position convenient for operation from the shower.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in thestructure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within thespirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fullyillustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new anddesire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A soap dispenser of the character described for use in associationwith a water pipe leading to a discharge such as a shower head, mixerfaucet and the like, comprising in combination, a venturi tube disposedin association with said water pipe to develop suction as the waterflows, a tube leading from the venturi tube, a container for the liquidsoap, a valve having a tubular housing connected to said tube and havingan axially movable valve stem, said housing communicating with thecontainer and the container having a hollow enclosed chamber one end ofwhich is connected to the interior of the housing, the other end of thechamber communicating with the interior of the container around saidchamber and having a second valve permitting soap to flow from thecontainer upward into the chamber, a valve head on one end of the valvestem normally closing the housing and isolating same from the chamber, acontrol memher on the other end of the stem to unseat the valve head andenable suction developed by said venturi tube to draw the contents ofthe chamber into the venturi tube for admixture with the water, a floatin said chamber rising as the suction withdraws soap from the chamberuntil the float strikes and reseats said valve head and shuts offfurther passage of the soap into the venturi tube, and said float beingslightly smaller than the inteiior of the chamber and weighted todescend therein as the chamber is recharged with soap from the containerfor the next operation.

2. In a soap dispenser of the character described for use in associationwith a water pipe leading to a shower head, the combination comprising,a venturi tube disposed in association with said water pipe to developsuction as the water flows, a tube leading from the venturi tube, acontainer for the liquid soap, a valve having an upright tubular housingconnected to said tube and having an axially movable valve stem, saidhousing communicating with the container and the container having anupright hollow enclosed chamber the upper end of which is connected tothe interior of the housing, the lower end of the chamber communicatingwith the interior of the container around said chamber and having alower end valve permitting soap to flow from the con tainer upward intothe chamber, a valve head on the lower end of the valve stem normallyclosing off the housing and isolating same from the chamber, a controlmember on the other end of the stem to unseat the valve head and enablesuction developed by said venturi tube to draw the contents of thechamber into the venturi tube for admixture with the water, a float insaid chamber rising as the suction withdraws soap from the chamher untilthe float strikes and reseats said valve head and shuts off furtherpassage of the soap toward the venturi tube, and the said float beingadapted then to descend in the chamber to recharge the same with soapfrom the container for the next operation.

3. A soap dispenser of the character described for use in associationwith a water pipe leading to a dis charge such as a shower head, mixerfaucet and the like, comprising in combination, a venturi tube disposedin association with said water pipe to develop suction as the waterflows, a tube leading from the venturi tube a manual control valve insaid tube for regulating and shutting ofl flow therethrough, a containerfor the liquid soap, a second valve having a tubular valve housingconnected to said tube and having a vertically movable valve stem, saidhousing communicating with the container and the container having ahollow enclosed chamber one end of which is connected to the interior ofthe valve housing, the other end of the chamber communicating with theinterior of the container around said cham ber and having a foot valvepermitting soap to flow from the container upward into the chamber, avalve head on the lower end of the valve stem normally closing thehousing and isolating same from the chamber, a control knob member onthe upper end of the stem operative to move the valve stem downward tounseat the valve head and enable suction developed by said venturi tubeto draw the contents of the chamber into the venturi tube for admixturewith the water, a float in said chamber rising as the suction withdrawssoap from the chamber until the float strikes and reseats said valvehead and shuts off further passage of the soap into the venturi tube,and the said float being slightly smaller than the interior of thechamber and weighted to descend therein as the chamber is recharged withsoap from the container for the next operation.

4. A soap dispenser of the character described for use in associationwith a water pipe leading to a discharge such as a shower head, mixerfaucet and the like, comprising in combination, a venturi tube disposedin association with said water pipe to develop suction as the waterflows, a tube leading from the venturi tube, a

manual control valve in said tube for regulating and shutting off flowtherethrough, a container for the liquid soap, a second valve having atubular housing connected to said tube and having an axially movablevalve stem, said housing communicating with the container and thecontainer having a vertical hollow enclosed chamber the upper end ofwhich is connected to the interior of the housing, the lower end of thechamber communicating with the interior of the container around saidchamber, a foot valve in the lower end of the chamber permitting soap toflow from the container upward into the chamber, a float loosely fittedin said chamber past which the soap will flow upward to fill the upperpart of the chamber with a measured charge, a valve head on the lowerend of the valve stem normally closing the lower end of said housing andisolating same from the chamber, .a control member on the other end ofthe stem to unseat the valve head and enable suction developed by saidventuri tube to draw the contents of the chamber above the float intothe venturi tube for admixture with the water, said float rising in saidchamber as the suction withdraws soap from the chamber until the floatstrikes and reseats said valve head and shuts off further passage of thesoap into the venturi tube, and the said float being weighted to descendtherein as the upper end of the chamber is recharged with soap from thecontainer for the next operation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,325,242 Gordan July 27, 1943

